Question

In 1911, Ernest Rutherford tested the atomic model existing at the time by shooting a beam of alpha particles (42He, helium nuclei) at a very thin sheet of gold foil. He found that while most particles went straight through the foil undeflected, a very few were deflected at great angles as they passed through the foil. Why was this discovery a reason to change the atomic model

Answer 1

At the time of Rutherford's experiment, the accepted model for the atom was the Thomson plum-pudding model of the atom, in which the atom consists of a "sphere" of positive charge distributed all over the sphere, with tiny negative particles (the electrons) inside this sphere.

In his experiment, Rutherford shot alpha particles towards a very thin sheet of gold foil. He observed the following things:

1- Most of the alpha particles went undeflected, but

2- Some of them were scattered at very large angles

3- A few of them were even reflected back to their original directions

Observations 2) and 3) were incompatible with Thomson model of the atom: in fact, if this model was true, all the alpha particle should have gone undeflected, or scattered at very small angles. Instead, due to observations 2) and 3), it was clear that:

- The positive charge of the atom was all concentred in a tiny nucleus

- Most of the mass of the atom was also concentrated in the nucleus

So, Rutherford experiment lead to a change in the atomic model of the atom, as it was clear that the plum-pudding model was no longer adequate to describe the results of Rutherford's experiment.